Maisey Hammond, Marketing Officer
2025 marked a fantastic milestone for the climbing community in the UK – the 30th anniversary of Tree Climbing Competitions. We celebrated at War Memorial Park in Coventry on 13th–14th September, bringing together competitors, volunteers and spectators.
A total of 59 climbers competed in the UK & Ireland Tree Climbing Competition. Day one was dedicated to the preliminaries, where competitors took part in five different events. These challenges tested each climber’s ability to professionally and safely manoeuvre around a tree while performing work-related tree care tasks in a timely and efficient manner.
We were thrilled to kick off the first morning with a visit from BBC Radio Coventry, who featured a five-minute segment on their breakfast show with Lorna Bailey. This helped us spread the word about arboriculture and our 30th anniversary celebrations in the park.
To commemorate three decades of competition, we collaborated with Arb Fiction, who created an incredible piece of artwork. This stunning collage showcases images picked from our competition archives, spanning the three decades of events. This design decorated the event on T-shirts, flags, and boards. Our online store now includes a range of products featuring the design, including T-shirts, hoodies and more – visit www.bit.ly/43DMqsE
As part of our event we also offered free climbing experience in a nearby tree, giving children and adults a chance to have a go themselves while watching the competition. This was a real success and all sessions were fully booked both days!
Day two featured the Masters’ Challenge, where the top seven climbers went head to head for the national title.
None of our competitions would be possible without the amazing effort of those who organise and judge. This year, we recognised their dedication with a volunteer medal and goodies to show our appreciation.
Our 2025 Champions
Massive congratulations go to Jo Hedger and Michael Curwen, our 2025 UK & Ireland Champions!
Women’s Results
1st Jo Hedger
2nd Sarah Ann Quinlan
3rd Molly Ralph
Men’s Results
1st Michael Curwen
2nd Ben Batt
3rd Robert Tanulak
4th Matt Glenn
Some of our amazing volunteers. (Steve Pearce)
Day two – the Masters Challenge. (Steve Pearce)
Back on the ground! (Steve Pearce)
Left to right: Sarah Ann Quinlan, Jo Hedger, Molly Ralph. (Steve Pearce)
Left to right: Matt Glenn, Ben Batt, Michael Curwen, Robert Tanulak. (Steve Pearce)
Ben Batt was presented with the Spirit of the Competition award. (Steve Pearce)
You can view the full results and detailed scores here: www.trees.org.uk/UKITCC.
Special congratulations also went to Ben Batt who was presented with the Spirit of the Competition award. Ben is an amazing competitor and made a huge impact by promoting camaraderie among fellow competitors and volunteers, always demonstrating a genuine interest in helping others improve. Ben was presented with a well-deserved and unique piece of artwork created by Chris Wyatt from recycled tree climbing and rigging lines.
Our champions went on to represent the UK and Ireland at the International Tree Climbing Championship in Christchurch, New Zealand, achieving tremendous success on the global stage. Jo finished in an incredible 2nd place in the women’s division, and Mike secured an impressive 4th place in the men’s division. Congratulations to both of them on their amazing effort!
Thank you
Our climbing competitions rely on the generous support of our event sponsors and prize supporters: Arb Fiction, Arbortec, Arbpro, Bear Valley, Buxtons, Dick Leigh, Hexarope, Honey Brothers, MediArb, Notch, Silky, Sorbus, Teufelberger, and VMT. Thank you for helping us make the 30th anniversary celebration a great success!
Finally, a massive thank you to Steve Pearce from The Tree Projects for capturing the weekend’s energy. Some of Steve’s pictures appear opposite, and you can view the full gallery of photos on our flickr account @arbassociation.
This article was taken from Issue 211 Winter 2025 of the ARB Magazine, which is available to view free to members by simply logging in to the website and viewing your profile area.